Jed and Renee had been living in their first home together for a little over one year until the arrival of their first born child. They had been putting up with their 1990’s era kitchen but quickly realised it wasn’t up to scratch with the new demands for space and functionality that a child brings.

Jed and Renee’s old kitchen was dark and imposing, lacked bench space and wasted space with inaccessible cupboards on all walls. After experimenting with a few layouts in our CAD program, our solution was to dedicate one wall for tall and deep storage, then on the adjacent and opposite walls create a long wrap-around bench with base level storage below. The bench intersects a dividing wall with an archway into the dining room, nabbing more precious surface space. The archway also inspired the rounded corner on the end of the bench which ensures access to the dining doorway is not hindered.

Smart storage such as a Kessebohmer pull-out pantry unit, blind corner baskets and a slide-out appliance shelf accessed by a lift-up door make the most of every nook of this kitchen. Top cupboards housing the rangehood also intersect the kitchen’s dividing wall and continue as open display shelving in the dining room for extra storage and visual balance. Simple black ‘D’ handles are a stylish, functional and affordable hardware choice, as is the grey Bettastone benchtop made from recycled glass.

Jed and Renee loved the colour and grain of Blackbutt timber but realised that too much timber could be overbearing as it was in their old kitchen. Our solution was to create a mix of hand-painted light green doors to break up and provide contrast against the Blackbutt veneer panels. The result is a light and airy kitchen that opens up the room and invites you inward.